Jason Zhang

1982–2003: Early life

Zhang was born on 20 December 1982, in Chengdu, Sichuan. He enrolled at Sichuan Normal University in 2000, where he studied Hospitality and Tourism while performing as a resident singer at local venues to support himself financially.^[2] In 2003, he took part in the MTV-Samsung Anycall National Singing Competition and won second place.^[3]

2004–2006: Debut and Sum Entertainment (Universal Music China)

In 2004, Zhang gained national recognition after winning the first season of the television singing competition My Style and My Show (我型我秀), where he performed the original song Love of the Big Dipper (北斗星的爱) in the final.^[4] Following the competition, he signed with Sum Entertainment.^{[citation needed]}

In 2005, he released his debut studio album The First Album (第一张) and received several honors including the Most Popular Newcomer Award at the Global Chinese Music Chart and the Best New Male Singer Gold Award at the TVB8 Awards.^[5] His second album, Love Me Again (再爱我一回), followed in 2006, but changes in management at his record label affected the continuity of his early career.^{[citation needed]}

2007–2015: EE-Media

In 2007, he participated in Super Boy, where he finished in fourth place.^{[citation needed]} After the show, he signed with EE-Media, marking a turning point in his career. Later that year, he released the EP The Most Beautiful Sun (最美的太阳), which performed strongly in sales, reaching multiple year-end sales milestones on Amazon China.^[6]

In 2008, Zhang held his first solo concert at the Beijing Exhibition Center. Due to high demand, additional standing tickets were released, and an additional concert was later held at Hangzhou Gymnasium.^{[citation needed]} Later that year, he released the album The Day After Tomorrow (明天过后), which received the Album of the Year award at the 4th BQ Celebrity Score Awards^[7], Mainland Most Popular Male Singer Award at the 6th Southeast Music Chart Awards^[8].

He released several more albums, including Through Trilogy (穿越三部曲) in 2009, It’s Love (这，就是爱) in 2010, Stand Up (最接近天堂的地方) in 2011, and began holding large-scale concerts and received more industry recognition.^{[citation needed]} In 2010, he received the Best Asian Artist award at the Mnet Asian Music Awards, becoming the first Chinese-language singer to receive the award^[9]. He also attended the TVB8 Awards in Hong Kong as the only invited male singer from mainland China and received the Mainland Audience’s Favorite Male Singer Award and a Top Ten Golden Songs Award^[10]. His album Stand Up (最接近天堂的地方) received the Most Popular Album award at the China TOP Rankings^[11].

In 2012, Zhang launched his first concert tour, beginning at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing and continuing to Shanghai Grand Stage.^{[citation needed]} He also received the Most Popular Idol of the Decade Award at Baidu Music’s 10th anniversary ceremony^[12] and received the Mainland Most Popular Male Singer Award at the China POP Chart in Taipei. ^[13] In 2013, Zhang made his debut appearance at the CCTV Spring Festival Gala, one of China’s most widely viewed annual broadcasts, with Yoga Lin, and later attended the Berklee College of Music for further musical studies.^{[citation needed]}

In 2014, Zhang participated in the television competition I Am a Singer finishing third and launched the Fight Back For Love (为爱逆战) tour, which covered eight different cities across China.^{[citation needed]} He also served as the tour’s artistic director and introduced his personal logo and band.^{[citation needed]} In November, he was presented with the International Artist Award at the American Music Awards, becoming the first Chinese singer to receive the award^[14]. He served as a mentor for the first time on The Most Beautiful Harmony Season 3 (最美和声第三季) in 2015 and collaborated with Xiaomi to release the album 10 (拾).

He concluded his contract with EE-Media in 2015 and transitioned to independent development.^{[citation needed]}

2016–present: Planet Culture

In 2016, Zhang established his music label Planet Culture^{[citation needed]}. He held the “Just For Star” concert in Los Angeles, featuring guest performers David Foster and Lindsey Stirling^[15], and launched his first world tour The Sound of My Heart (我想), the tour began in Beijing, and he became the first post-1980 Chinese singer to perform at Beijing Workers’ Stadium.^{[citation needed]} During the year, he also recorded songs connected with international film releases, including Lost in the Stars for Star Trek Beyond and Give You My World for Allied, and collaborated with X Ambassadors on Torches for Transformers: The Last Knight. In 2017, he rejoined the singing competition I Am a Singer and expanded his world tour both domestically and internationally, covering cities including New York, Vancouver, Kuala Lumpur, London, and Milan, and became the first mainland Chinese singer to perform at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.^{[citation needed]} He later also received the Best Pop Singer Award at the China Golden Record Awards.

In 2018, he released his 12th studio album FUTURE·LIVE (未·LIVE), introducing a “Mix-Pop” approach that blends electronic, rock, and traditional Chinese elements, including the integration of operatic vocal techniques, rap, and electronic production.^[16] The album achieved Gold, Platinum, and Double Platinum certifications from the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) in mainland China during its pre-sale period.^{[citation needed]} On 11 August, the FUTURE·LIVE (未·LIVE) tour debuted at the landmark Beijing National Stadium, where more than 80,000 tickets sold out in 2 minutes and 38 seconds, setting a single-show box office record at the venue and making him the first artist of his generation in Mandopop to headline a solo concert there.^[17]

In 2019, he continued the FUTURE·LIVE (未·LIVE) tour across 17 cities, concluding it at Beijing National Stadium, where he again set new box office records.^{[citation needed]} He also crossed into theater, starring in the stage place Ago (曾经如是) directed and written by Stan Lai, in which he played the male lead Dorje. In 2020, he released his first English studio album Risk It All and the reinterpretation album Listen! Our Song (听！我们的歌), followed by an online concert (due to COVID-19) on 30 July, which attracted nearly 15 million viewers. ^[18]

In 2021, he released album Deserve Better (值得更好的) and began the Future Live: Brilliance concert tour.^{[citation needed]} In 2023, he released his sixteenth studio album Wainan Street 1982 (外南街1982) on 11 January and released EP The Seventh Day of Winter on 27 December.^{[citation needed]} Later in 2023, he announced his year-end concert series Future, Hello (未·你好吗), held from 29 to 31 December in Chengdu^[19]. Its stage design later received the MUSE Award^{[citation needed]}, the iF Design Award^[20], and the French Design Gold Award^[21]. The New Year’s Eve concert lasted approximately five hours, and its livestream on Douyin attracted over 65 million viewers, with total views exceeding 250 million.^{[citation needed]} In 2024 December, his concert film Jason Zhang Brilliance Tour was released nationwide in China^{[citation needed]} and grossed approximately 28 million RMB in box office on the first day, ranking first at the daily box office.^{[citation needed]} His music film associated with his album Not Bad (要得), with a runtime of 45 minutes, was also released online in December 2024. Structured around five tracks from the album, the film presents a narrative set in a futuristic technological world, depicting themes of environmental intervention and increasing influence of artificial intelligence on human society.^{[citation needed]} In 2025, the film received six international awards, including Best Music Video, Best Foreign Language Short Film, and Best Actor at the Los Angeles Independent Shorts Awards. ^[22]

From 27 March to 19 April 2026, he held 16 consecutive concerts at the Beijing National Stadium over a 24-day period, marking it the longest consecutive concert run at a single stadium.^[23] The performances formed the final domestic leg of his FUTURE·LIVE: Leave for 1982 (未·LIVE开往1982) world tour, which began in 2024 and had reached 141 shows to date, with international dates yet to be announced.^[24]

Studio Albums

1. The First Album 第一张 (2005-03-15)
2. Love Me Again 再爱我一回 (2006-09-20)
3. Most Beautiful Sun 最美的太阳 (2007-12-17)
4. The Day After Tomorrow 明天过后 (2008-09-15)
5. Through Trilogy 穿越三部曲 (2009-11-02)
6. It's Love 这，就是爱 (2010-11-21)
7. Stand Up 最接近天堂的地方 (2011-11-16)
8. One Chance 新歌+精选 (2012-09-29)
9. The Love Songs We Once Encountered 那些和我们打过招呼的爱情 (2012-11-26)
10. Just Love 爱，不解释(2013-12-18)
11. Ten 拾 (2015-04-15)
12. Future Live 未·LIVE (2018-10-12)
13. Risk It All 声来无畏 (2020-06-24)
14. Songs of Youth (2020-07-23)
15. You Deserve Better 值得更好的 (2021-10-26)
16. Wainan Street 1982 外南街1982 (2022-12-20)
17. Not Bad 要得 (2024-03-22)

EP

1. Love, and Courage 越爱越强 (2016-08-20)
2. Lover 爱人啊 (2020-04-28)
3. The Seventh Day of Winter 冬月初七 (2023-12-27)

Tour

• Begin With Star 闪耀星空、从星开始 (2008, 2 shows)
• Love · Uniquely Jie 爱·杰然不同 (2012, 2 shows)
• Fight Back The Love 为爱逆战 (2014, 8 shows)
• Sound Of My Heart 我想 (2016–2017, 25 shows)
• FUTURE·LIVE 未·LIVE (2018–2019, 17 shows)
• FUTURE·LIVE: Brilliance 曜·北斗 (2021-2023, 23 shows)
• FUTURE·LIVE: Leave For 1982 开往1982 (2024-present, 141 shows)

Single concerts

• Through the Crowd 穿越人海 (2009, 1 show)
• It's Love 这，就是爱 (2010, 1 show)
• It's Love 这，就是爱 (2011, 1 show)
• It's Love 这，就是爱 (2012, 1 show)
• It's Love 这，就是爱 (2013, 1 show)
• Looking Up at the Starry Sky free concert 仰望星空 (2012, 1 show)
• Just For Star (2016, 1 show)
• FUTURE, Hello New Year concert 未·你好吗 (2023, 3 shows)
• FUTURE, Hello New Year concert 未·你好吗 (2024, 3 shows)
• FUTURE, Hello New Year concert 未·你好吗 (2025, 3 shows)

Philanthropy

The “Jason Zhang Music Dream Classrooms” is a charitable initiative founded by Zhang under the Beidou Stars Love Fund (北斗星空爱心基金), which operates within the China Population Welfare Foundation. Zhang personally contributed RMB 2 million as initial funding for the project, which was launched in October 2012^[25]. As of August 2025, a total of 107 “Music Dream Classrooms” had been established across various regions in China^[26]. The project focuses on improving access to music education for young people. In December 2015, it received the Top Ten Fashion Role Models Award at the Global Fashion Ceremony^[27], and in November 2019, it was selected as one of the S20 Celebrity Charity Classic Cases (2018) by the China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation^[28].

Education and academic activities

From June to September 2013, Zhang undertook further studies in music at the Berklee College of Music.^{[citation needed]} On 4 December 2019, he was appointed as a specially appointed vocal instructor and associate researcher at the Film and Television Arts Department of Shanghai University.^{[citation needed]} On 3 September 2021, he appeared at the university’s freshman opening ceremony, where his “Jason Zhang Music LIVE” public course was officially launched.^{[citation needed]}

Family

On 6 August 2011, Zhang and Chinese television host Xie Na, who holds the Guinness World Records as the first person to accumulate 100 million followers on Weibo, announced their engagement via social media.^[29] On 5 May 2011, they registered their marriage in Chengdu, China. On 26 September 2011, they married in Shangri-La, Diqing Prefecture, China. On 1 February 2018, their twin daughters were born.^[30] In May 2021, their third daughter was born in May 2021.^[31]